Ninshū: The Way of Peace
by Envoy of the White Moon
Summary: At an earlier age, Naruto and Sasuke acknowledge one another. Though many things change, many stay the same. What is different though, is that never once did they see the other's back. That alone is enough to save them both and so many others. (Spoilers if you didn't know. I also don't own Naruto. Will include a three person pairing down the road though. T now, though will be M.)
1. Chapter 1

Ninshū: The Way of Peace

Chapter 1: Divergence

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><p>Many of the students froze in place at the sight before them on the training ground. Both Naruto, unrefuted troublemaker yet loner, and Sasuke, last of his clan and loner, had both stopped where they were. Naruto's right fist was two inches above the Uchiha's chest, right where his heart was; while Sasuke's left fist just before the blonde's neck. They both were perfectly still, staring evenly at each other.<p>

Naruto then smiled roguishly while a tiny smirk played at Sasuke's lips.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time. "We call this match a draw."

"You guys aren't in a position to draw," Iruka pointed out. "You're not even close enough to hurt each other."

"If this were a combat situation, he and I would both have a weapon or jutsu on hand ready to end the other. He's ready to remove my head-"

"-While he is ready to run my heart through. This is a draw for us both. Not only that, but if we were to continue, I could handle him with efficiency-"

"-But he would fall over from exhaustion from having to go the extra mile."

Iruka looked between the two before sighing in shaking his head. He would have thought that two children, even if one was brother to a prodigy, were not this advanced when it came to combat. "Very well then. I call the match between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto a draw." The two then stepped away from each other. "Now make the seal of reconciliation." The two then made the half rat seal, Naruto with his right and Sasuke with his left, and shook them together, a smile on both of their lips.

* * *

><p>"You're good," Sasuke said as the two slowly walked side by side toward his clan compound.<p>

"So are you," Naruto replied toying with a rock in his hand.

A silence fell between the two that seemed to drag on the time the two were taking to get back to Sasuke's empty home. Maybe it was due to the fact that they both desired to have at least someone understanding beside them for a bit, even if their circumstances were different.

"That's a nice form, unrefined though," the Uchiha noted after the bout of silence.

"Self-taught."

"No one willing to teach you?"

"More like everyone I asked just sneered at me or just outright ignored me," Naruto snarled.

"You're an Uzumaki, why aren't any stepping forward to help you?"

"I thought this was a random name the orphanage gave me." Naruto was absolutely surprised at this revelation. What if he had a family?

"Nope. Apparently the Uzumaki are just as important as the Senju and Uchiha. That swirl on the green flak jackets jōnin wear? That's the Uzumaki crest and meant to symbolize the village's bond to the Uzumaki."

"So I'm from a clan huh? Probably last from the looks of it if no one even mentions them anymore," Naruto sulked.

"My mom also said something one night about you being my mom's best friend's son. Said her name was Kushina, if that helps you out a bit." It was Sasuke's hope that his new rival and tentative friend would cheer up a bit. Naruto's mood kind of reminded him of the fact that he was alone as well, something he did not like to dwell on much.

"Thanks Sasuke. Means a great deal."

"No problem man."

The two then came short of the entrance to Sasuke's clan compound. "This is my stop man."

"I'll see ya later Sasuke." He moved to turn but stopped when he saw Sasuke's outstretched fingers.

"You can stay over if you want," the Uchiha said quietly. "It gets kind of lonely here." He felt like kicking himself for pushing a bit too fast.

"Maybe another time man." Sasuke nodded, understanding that the blonde needed a bit of time to mull over the fact that he was from a clan and most likely the last of it. Naruto smirked and extended his right hand with the index and middle fingers sticking out and shook the other young boy's own.

The two then turned their backs to each other, smiles across their faces as they walked away from the site of their divergence.

* * *

><p>Two ancient chakras, powerful and undetectable, that had for so long clashed with one another had suddenly ceased in their eternal rage and began to calm. The two chakras soon began to shrink and manifest themselves into two distinct forms. The first that materialized was a young man with swirling eyes, short eyebrows and long and unruly hair while two short locks on either side of his face were wrapped in bandages. The second being to materialize was another young man with short spiky hair with a blank hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead. He too had locks framing his face wrapped in bandages. They both wore identical clothing consisting of a light colored kimono with six magatama adorning the collar wrapped in a dark obi.<p>

"Asura," the first one spoke, raising his left hand in the Seal of Confrontation.

"Indra," Asura replied doing the same with his right hand.

For a while, the two stared at each other, their chakras swirling uneasily around them. Soon, Indra's eyes faded from their bright red color to a dull brown like the other man's eyes. They stayed like that for a bit before Indra lowered his left hand in a gesture of friendship, a small smile twinkling in his eye. Asura smiled in return, thankful that his brother had finally let go of his hatred for him.

"I missed you Indra," he said, shaking his brother's hand.

"I'm sorry brother," he admitted shamefully. "Can you forgive me?"

"Forgive you?" Asura asked, raising his brow. Indra was wondering if Asura indeed would forgive, but was surprised by the hug that enveloped him. "You're my brother. I love you."

For the first time in nearly three millennia since their mother had passed, Indra had cried into his brother's shoulder, quieting whispering sorry.

He finally composed himself and pushed himself off of his brother. "We need to talk about what Madara is planning," he said darkly. "It involves Yami." Asura's face hardened at the name of the darkness that corrupted his brother and his reincarnation. "Madara is planning on releasing the Jūbi."

Asura's stone face held. "We need to help Sasuke and Naruto train so they can stop Grandmother. We cannot have her destroy what those two have begun here."

"Agreed brother."

For the first time since training under their father, Asura and Indra had the same goal in mind. And with that, the two returned to pure chakra and fused themselves to their reincarnations, slowly integrating a majority of their powerful chakras into the young boys' own distinct chakras.

* * *

><p>Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo looked up from his meditation in the endless expanse that surrounded him, having felt the chakras of his two sons finally reconcile with one another. The Rikudō Sennin felt that with Indra and Asura- no, Sasuke and Naruto working together in this timeline, he could approach them sooner if they began to train in ninshū rather than later during their death throes. If so, the two could save the world with less deaths.<p>

"Forgive me mother, but if we must stop you again, so be it." Though he was a stoic man, Hagoromo was not without weakness, and soon, a tear escaped his eye followed by five more. One for his brother, mother and father, and one each for his two sons and their lines.

* * *

><p>Ōtsutsuki Kaguya eyes looked up into the night sky to see two shining chakras finally calm. A long time ago, she would have snarled at the thought of any being other than her wielding chakra, but after three millennia trapped in her own consciousness, she had begun to realize her faults. When once she would have sneered at the mere thought that two scattered chakras finally had harmonized with one another, she now felt great happiness at the fact that she no longer had to watch her grandchildren war with one another throughout the ages. A great sorrow flowed through her though when she realized that one of her children, Yami, held the misguided belief that he needed to manipulate and destroy everything his family had worked for to free her so that she could seek her vengeance.<p>

"Forgive thine mother mine children, for the sins thou has committed, and the suffering thou hast wrought thee," she whispered. She then closed her eyes and curled into a ball, silently humming the tune her late husband had always serenaded her with when they were together. Soon, tears began to fall freely from her eyes. She so badly wished that she had died instead of been immortal so that she could have joined her husband. But the will of the Shinju was strong and would never let its hold on her relinquish.

Its presence was felt heavy on her back, and Kaguya cringed, withdrawing further into herself.

"Foolish daughter of the lost moon," the Shinju boomed. "Thine blasphemy will be the cause of all the world's death and I shall once more sleep when all the world is gone. I shalt suffer another to take mine power again. Of that thou can assure thee." The great being then soon shut its existence from her own.

Kaguya cried even harder then, knowing that when Yami freed her, and if little Sasuke and Naruto succeeded in stopping her, that she would endure this hell once more, maybe for eternity this time.

"Please, save me, someone. Please," she pleaded once more into the darkness, hoping beyond hope that he multi-layered kimono she was wrapped would bring her warmth that she had missed for so long, that not even chakra could satisfy the need for it. After a while of tears, she finally succumbed to her stress and feel into a nightmare ridden sleep.

* * *

><p>I pity her so much. A woman so desperate to save everyone, she went insane due to fretting over it; never once relying on anyone else.<p>

It is too bad not everyone can be redeemed or have a hero or someone there to pull them out.

Also, no review trying about me pushing shounenai. I don't do that.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Strength

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><p>"Good form Sasuke. You as well Naruto," Iruka remarked as he scored them on their taijutsu.<p>

As the weeks passed since their first ever spar, the two had fallen into a routine of sorts with one another, personally, socially and work ethic wise. Where one would suddenly come closer to master a technique, the other would come in the next day and exceed what the other had done. When Sasuke or Naruto would go into public, one would shoo away the other's well-wishers or antagonizers. Sasuke would help Naruto refine himself, while the blonde would help coax the Uchiha out of his introversion and back into the world.

Due to this, Naruto himself had a fan club created to honor him. Within two months, his fan club had grown to rival the size of Sasuke's. The most surprising thing about this was that Hinata was the president of said fan club. Timid, little (and maybe cute) Hinata was the president! Luckily for Naruto, Hinata did not act loud and obnoxious about her support in him. Rather she always politely clapped for him, spoke modestly of him and defended his honor whenever it came under fire.

Sasuke was slightly irked by the fact that he did not have such a girl and was only stuck a fan club that was headed by girls with lungs that could put howler monkeys to shame. Soon enough though, it seemed to change.

"Why do you two fight each other so much?" Naruto asked from his seat beside Sasuke. For the past fifteen minutes, the blonde had to listen to the two bicker about who would do this or who would do that for 'Sasuke-kun'. What with lunch period about to end and nothing to do, the blonde felt like poking a bees'- hornets' nest.

"Shut up Naruto!" Yamanaka Ino shouted.

"This between us! We don't need you butting in!" Sakura growled, butting heads with her rival slash friend.

Naruto sighed in defeat, he truthfully did not understand why he himself had decided to call them out on their rabble. It was most likely due to the small rain cloud Naruto thought he saw hanging over his friends head.

"Aren't you two still friends?" The two stopped their bickering to gaze upon the blonde boy. "I mean, you are still friends… right?" At their shameful looks, Naruto sighed and palmed his face.

"I bet it has something to do with me," Sasuke suddenly spoke up, raising his head to look at the two girls. When the two girls looked away from each other, the Uchiha palmed his face as well. "This is like a bad drama where two women who are initially friends soon become rivals because they like the same man."

"Did any of them ever make up and become friends?" the Uzumaki asked.

"If they did, I never found out. I found the situations eerily familiar and burned the story."

"Tell me you really did not do that man," Naruto wondered aloud.

"I really did not do that."

"You did at least make sure it was replaceable, right?" At Sasuke's flat look, he muttered, "You did at least compensate the people."

"I'm surprised you know what compensation means." The fury that erupted on Naruto's face caused him to smirk.

"I'll kill you!" Naruto shouted, lunging at his friend.

"Still compensating for something?" Sasuke teased as he dodged the blonde ballistic bullet.

With a roar, Naruto leapt at his friend. The Uchiha just barely managed to evade his friend and then proceeded to escape out the open window, with the blonde hot on his heels.

"They do realize we are on the second floor in this classroom… right?" Kiba said aloud. Many nodded their heads. The Inuzuka soon stuck his head out and saw the two of them running across the walls of the Academy and heading toward the heart of the village. "How the hell did they learn wall running?"

"I believe it is due to their tree walking training. Why? Because I have come across the two of them training once," Shino spoke aloud, making a number of kids near him jump due to his quiet nature.

"You never told me that man!" the other boy shouted accusingly.

"It is because you never asked anything about Naruto-san or about Sasuke-san. I was under the impression you saw the two as your rivals."

"That might have helped me gauge their progress then Shino!" Kiba howled.

"My apologies Kiba. Next time I know anything, I shall tell you about it."

When Iruka returned to class after his lunch break was over, he was met with a number of his students staring out the window stunned, Sakura and Ino shooting glances at each other, and Kiba and surprisingly Shino talking animatedly with one another.

"Where are Naruto and Sasuke?"

* * *

><p>When school was let out, all of the children save for Naruto and Sasuke (both of them staying behind to clean the classroom after a stern talking to by Iruka), began to slowly amble their way back to their homes. When Sasuke looked out the window while washing them, he spied Sakura and Ino together. He decided to call over Naruto and when he came over, the two of them opened the window and strained their ears to hear what was going on.<p>

"Can I come over Ino?" the pinkette murmured just loudly enough for her former friend to hear her.

"Dad was actually thinking of taking me and mom out to eat later on today," Ino began.

"Oh." But at the downtrodden look on the girl's face, Ino decided to take the second step to mending their friendship.

"Why don't you bring your mom and dad? It's been a while since my mom and dad last saw you guys."

"I'd like that." Sakura smiled, happy that this might be a chance to rekindle their friendship.

Sasuke soon left the window and made his way over to one of the seats and sat down, leaving Naruto to watch the two girls slowly blend into the mid-afternoon crowd. Soon Naruto found himself seated next to his friend.

"I hope they mend their friendship. People always need a friend that isn't a family member or loved one. People need to know that love can be unconditional," Sasuke muttered to himself. "Breaking your bonds with those who love you deeply over petty things like revenge or a selfish, one-sided love is foolish."

Naruto simply nodded from his friend's side. "Simply knowing you have someone out there watching your back soothes a person's heart. But one must not become too possessive of that attachment, lest they run the risk of falling into hatred if that bond is lost."

"To know how to move past that hatred is difficult, but in time, wounds heal."

"Maybe they'll find a way of mending that broken bond. Who knows?" Naruto then looked slyly at his friend. "You just hope they'll stop chasing you, eh?"

"A boy can dream can't he?" Sasuke shot back. The two then returned to their task of cleaning the classroom. When they finished, the two of them headed out to eat at an onigiri stand since they ate at Ichiraku two nights ago.

* * *

><p>After having dinner with the Yamanaka clan head's family, Mebuki and Kizashi were surprised when Ino invited Sakura over for the night for a sleep over, something the two had not done in quite some time. They were even more surprised when Sakura leapt at the idea and hugged the blonde fervently. The two of them gave their permission to their daughter and smiled as they watched their child hug each of them before following her friend.<p>

When it soon came time for bed, the two of them were animatedly gossiping with one another about this and that. They both came to realize though, that they had long missed out on a majority of the other's life, but both reconciled that they would not lose any more time together.

"I'm sorry Sakura," Ino said when she turned off the night stand lamp.

"It's not your fault Ino," Sakura replied, lying beside the girl. "I should have realized that you were trying to help my gain confidence by trying to be my rival and push me to become stronger. I shouldn't have taken that and thrown it in your face."

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think we're both a little silly for breaking up our friendship," Ino giggled.

"So if we're friends, then we aren't silly then."

"Exactly!" the platinum blonde laughed.

"Well then, I don't like being silly."

"I don't either."

"Friends then?" Sakura smiled.

"Friends," Ino said as she wrapped her friend in a hug and felt her hug back.

That night, the two of them fell asleep in each other's arm, friends who had finally found each other once more.

* * *

><p>From that day forward, Sasuke felt like palming his face every time the two girls would double team him in attempts to woo him. From the sidelines, Naruto would laugh and egg the girls on, all the while smiling impishly whenever the Uchiha would shoot a glare his way.<p>

"Boy, am I glad only you are the most vocal about wooing me when it comes to my fan club Hinata-chan!" Naruto told the girl beside him happily. Though first he was cautious about the fan club, he soon came to realize that the girls that formed a good majority of the club only held him at a slightly elevated pedestal due to his warmth and near down to earthliness. He was just glad that none of them wanted to have his kids, because that was nasty and unthinkable at their age. Instead, many of them wanted to be his friend. Though at times he would catch the occasional glance that had him questioning what they were seeing.

"That's because all the girls know that I was the first one to acknowledge you." At his questioning look, the blunette smiled. "It has more to do with the fact that I at least hold a special place in your heart."

"So long as they aren't afraid of you, I'm fine with that."

Thankfully he was a little dense about the fact that Hinata had just said that she had staked her claim in him and would not let anyone encroach on the boy.

The two then began to trade bits of their lunches with one another and talked about how their respective lives had been so far in the past few days. The both of them then heard a loud shout and looked over to where Sasuke, Sakura and Ino were sitting. Ino was gaping at Sasuke with he and Sakura had blushes on their faces.

"What did you just say?" Ino squeaked out.

"I-I said I like Sakura more because she tries her best to be acknowledged, despite the fact that she isn't the strongest among our class," Sasuke said firmly, his cheeks reddening further along with Sakura's as he spoke. "And also, I think her forehead is cute!" The last sentence was rushed, but many comprehended what he said. Sakura fainted dead away.

From that day forward, Sakura was elevated from Co-president, to president of Sasuke's fan club. It was also followed by the toning down of said fan club. It would have been great if it were not for the fact of his friends ribbing about him now having a 'girlfriend'. He soon began to reply, "If I have a girlfriend, what do you call Hinata?" And then when Naruto finally got the hint, Sasuke began to tease him about when the wedding was and if he would be best man.

* * *

><p>Later that night when Naruto lay in his bed, deep within his mind a powerful and ancient consciousness began to stir. For a while, it had felt a faint trace of chakra that was just as ancient as itself. Soon from the darkness formed a cage, which housed in it a massive fox with nine tails. The great beast gazed without aim into the darkness, trying to see if anything around it existed. It soon felt a presence slowly form, directly in front of it no less.<p>

It stared lazily at the spot and soon was given audience to a being that it had not seen since its 'father' had died.

"Ashura," the deep voice of the beast boomed. "I take it, from you chakra before me, that this child is your reincarnation."

"Indeed he is Kurama." Ashura frowned when his sibling snarled at him. "Can I no longer use your name my sibling?"

"One day once more. But for now, you can only address me as Kyūbi. My name means too much to me for anyone to so casually use it once more." It then lowered its head so it could stare down Ashura. "Especially not since what you and your brother's lines have done to father's legacy and to me and my siblings," it growled.

"I understand Kyūbi." Ashura then bowed. "I must now explain what my brother and I are doing." He did not flinch when he say the claw poised to run him through.

"Speak very carefully Ashura. If you or Indra attempt anything wrongful once more, I will not hesitate to kill the boy and Indra's reincarnation, whomever it might be," the Kyūbi snarled viciously.

"My brother found out through his last reincarnation, whom is Madara Uchiha that the man has set in motion a plan that would see the resurrection of the Jūbi." The claw that was once before him was lowered and replaced by the Kyūbi's face more.

"What is it you plan to do then Ashura?"

"Give the boy some of my strength and help him reach his potential as my descendant and reincarnation. And hopefully stop Madara's plans."

"And if his plans succeed?"

"Then we can only hope father helps us when that time comes."

The Kyūbi stared at its sibling, regarding him carefully with its slit eyes. "Would this require my assistance at all?"

"Only if you wished to give it my sibling," Ashura replied shaking his head.

"I shall deem the boy worthy of my assistance then," the great beast replied. "But if he is not, then if and when the Gedō Mazō has the chakras of my siblings, I will assist the child."

Ashura thought of accusing the Kyūbi of abandoning its siblings, but knew that the beast had a sense of pride and internally believed that the others would not allow themselves to be captured so easily once more.

"I thank you then Kyūbi," the second son of Hagoromo said, bowing his head.

The great beast merely huffed through its nose and Ashura took that as his signal to disappear. When the bijū was finally alone, it closed its eyes and opened up its senses to watch its container more closely.

'Let us see if you are worthy of my strength Uzumaki Naruto.'

* * *

><p>No I do not push shoujoai either people. Also, all pairings are canon, with a few tweaks. Also the feelings are on the table, but I won't have Naruto or Sasuke reciprocate those just yet due to the fact they will begin to realize they need to be strong to stop an oncoming storm by themselves. Both will of course get Heroic BSODs due to this and need to get slapped.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Forging Bonds

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><p>Three months had passed since the time where Sasuke's fan club was revamped and not much had changed for Sasuke and Naruto. While they were the unrefuted most powerful in their age group, when it came to grades both of them were like night and day. Though Naruto was gifted physically and could understand complex situations, he had zero ability when it came to breaking it down.<p>

This irked the Uchiha to no end; his rival was one of the lowest ranking of the academy students yet able to give the highest ranker a run for his money. If he had not befriended the blonde earlier, he would have thought that Naruto was really moron and beneath him and would thus have developed an inferiority and superiority complex regarding the blonde. Sasuke now knew that Naruto was instead a walking contradiction half the time and thus knew not to worry about it.

Within that span of time, all of the major clan heir had bonded with Naruto and Sakura, forming a tightly knit group of Academy students. They were then joined by Hinata's older cousin and two of his classmates, one TenTen and a Rock Lee.

The biggest change to both their lives would occur when they were beginning to go into their second year of the Academy.

* * *

><p>"Class," Iruka said, clapping his hands together to grab the classroom's attention. All eyes turned to him and all conversation stopped. "I'd like to welcome you back to the Academy. You will notice that some of the faces from last year are no longer among you, that is a given since many children find other passions to follow other that being a ninja. I'd also like to introduce two new students that will be joining the class from here on out." He then turned to the door and spoke aloud, "Please make your entrance."<p>

The door slid open and a number of the students held their breaths, wondering whom the new additions to the class would be and whether or not they would be a boy or girl. What all of the students noticed first was that both of them had red hair and were girls. The one with the glasses though had a darker shade of red hair while the girl with a blue hairclip had red nearly pink hair, slightly darker than Sakura's hair.

"Please introduce yourselves to the class," Iruka spoke.

"My name is Karin," the girl in glasses introduced herself shyly. She wore a black shirt with fishnet beneath it, all under a light brown open front long sleeve shirt and had on short black shorts. "I like Okonomiyaki. I dislike gyōza. My hobby is collecting perfume. My dream is to be reunited with my mom's family," Karin spoke aloud, blushing at having to say her hobby.

"The name's Tayuya," the other girl muttered, crossing her arms. The girl herself was wearing a long-sleeved fishnet shirt under a light yellow sleeveless kimono top held closed by a green obi and light blue shorts. "I like tonkatsu and hate sushi. My hobby is playing the flute. And that's all you guys need to know," Tayuya huffed.

"Tsundere much?" Naruto whispered from his place beside Sasuke. The Uchiha just gave Naruto to a look that spoke volumes.

"What was that shorty?!" Tayuya shouted at the blonde. Apparently, Naruto needed to learn how to whisper more quietly. That or Tayuya had amazing hearing.

'Whoops.' Thinking about his motto, 'Live free and with no regrets' he soon did put his foot in his mouth. "I said you're a cute Tsundere Ta-yu-ya-chan!" Naruto exclaimed for the whole class to hear, enunciating every syllable of her name while attaching the familiar –chan.

"Wha-what?!" Tayuya squeaked out. "I'm not tsundere, shorty!"

"And I'm not short, Tayuya-chan!" Naruto shouted back.

"Stop using my name so familiarly!"

"Both of you shut up!" Everyone in the class immediately shut up when they saw Iruka use his Big Head Jutsu to scare the living daylights out of them. "Take your seats so I can begin class now!" he shouted, more towards Tayuya, pointing at an empty seat beside Sakura and one beside Hinata.

With that, Tayuya took the seat beside Hinata while Sakura played hostess to Karin.

"What's up with that shorty?" Tayuya grumbled, her head on the wooden table before her.

"You really are a cute girl," Hinata giggled from her side.

"Not you too!" the redhead moaned. "I am not cute and I am definitely not a tsundere!" she grumbled.

The blunette just giggled once more. "My name's Hinata." She then stuck her hand forward. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Tayuya replied, though still a little glum. "So do you know who the shorty is?" she asked, sticking her thumb in the blonde's direction.

"That's Naruto-kun. And yes, he is short," she whispered the last part to the redhead. "But don't let Naruto-kun hear that, he's a," another giggle, "little sore on that subject."

Tayuya giggled as well. "I bet you like him, he's not half bad to tell the truth." At Hinata's teasing smile, the redhead backtracked, "F-for a shorty that is." Hinata just giggled in response.

"Yep; definitely a cute tsundere," the Hyūga giggled. Tayuya let out an indignant squawk and flicked the other girl's forehead, causing her to giggle even stronger. "So mean Tayuya-chan!"

Tayuya just huffed in response, muttering about people using her name so familiarly. Despite that, she had a small smile across her face.

From her seat beside the pinkette, Karin spied down upon the blonde who called her friend a tsundere. She watched as he and the dark haired boy beside him traded witty banter and jabs between each other. Feeling as if something was nagging at her mind, she expanded her budding sensory abilities outward. With a yelp, she tumbled out of her chair at what she felt coming off of Naruto and Sasuke. One had a shell of complete darkness surrounding it, but further in was a great warm that seemed to be reach out. The other had a bright and glowing chakra, but held a deep darkness buried deep within. But what was surprising though was the sheer size of their chakras, as it seemingly oozed out of them with now end, saturating the area around them with their chakra.

"Are you okay?" Karin was startled back into the real world by the hand in front of her and the concerned green eyes looking at her.

"Yeah, sorry," the redhead apologized, accepting the hand and pulling herself back into her seat.

"So you saw it too, huh?" Sakura asked the girl.

"Saw what?" Karin replied, trying to play dumb.

"The darkness that envelopes Sasuke-kun's chakra," Sakura replied. "And the darkness inside Naruto's chakra."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the redhead replied, sweating bullets.

"I'm a sensor too. I could tell you were one when you opened your mind to the world," Sakura said, pinning her in place with a stare. "It's fine; I won't tell your secret as long as you don't tell mine," the pinkette said as she smiled.

Karin exhaled in relief, glad that someone understood her need for secrecy concerning her ability. "Thank you," she replied. "I've never felt such strong chakras from people so young."

"I know," Sakura whispered back. "Sasuke-kun and Naruto had strong chakras before, but then when they became friends one day, it's like their chakras suddenly became so powerful and began to dispel that darkness they held. To tell the truth, that's actually why I like Sasuke-kun so much; I wanted to be there for him and help him shoulder his sadness, just like Naruto did for him."

"He kind of seems cold and aloof to me," Karin pointed out.

"True," the pinkette shrugged. "But once you get to know him, he can be such a warm and easy-going person." She soon began to slightly swoon over the young boy.

* * *

><p>When school later released that day, Karin found herself being dragged along by Sakura. She then looked over to see Hinata pushing Tayuya along in a comical fashion. The other redhead caught her eyes and gave a look that said, 'Don't talk.' Soon the two Konoha natives brought them to a training ground where seven others from their class and three older kids were waiting for them.<p>

"What are you guys doing here, and why'd you bring me and Karin here?" Tayuya asked the blunette beside her.

"Our friends usually train here with Neji-nīsan and his friends after school," Hinata replied as she grabbed the girls hand and drug her along to the group, Sakura doing the same with Karin.

"They are not my friends, Hinata-sama; they are my comrades," Neji sighed.

"You don't need to call me Hinata-sama, Neji-nīsan. And they too are your friends!" Hinata pointed out. "At least I think TenTen-san is."

"How do you figure that Hinata?" Naruto asked from his spot beside Sasuke, closing the book with the title ド根性忍伝 (Tale of the Gutsy Ninja) along its spine.

"I always see TenTen-san sneaking into the compound every now and again and then the two of them sneaking off later," Hinata supplied.

"Argh! Curse you my hip and cool rival!" Lee cried out. "Even when I feel like I so close to defeating you, you suddenly come out on top! And now you and TenTen are enjoying your youth! How can I compete with that?!"

"Shut up Lee!" TenTen muttered as she bopped Lee on his head, a blush adorning her cheeks.

"Like I was saying, this is where we usually train." Hinata and Sakura looked at the two redheads. "Would you like to join us?"

"Do I get to kick shorty's butt?" Tayuya grinned viciously.

"Hey!"

Everyone ignored Naruto's indignant remark and looked at Sakura, who grinned just as evilly. "Sure."

"Then I'm in!" Tayuya shouted, cracking her knuckles.

"Bring it Tayuya-chan!" Naruto shouted back, jumping up from his spot.

"I told you to stop using my name so familiarly shorty!"

"I'll stop when you stop calling me shorty!"

"Hold up first." Neji then motioned for Lee to create a sparring ring, which the boy did with enthusiasm. He then had the redhead and blonde stand towards the middle of the ring. "Make the seal of confrontation." Tayuya, not knowing what to do, watched as Naruto raised a half rat seal in front of himself and mimicked him. "The rules are as follows: only taijutsu, and no advanced or family type either. First to ring out the other wins. Are you both ready?" The two nodded in confirmation.

"Hajime!" Neji shouted, jumping out of the circle.

It was Tayuya who threw the first strike, a quick jab kick intending to knock the wind out of Naruto. The blonde of course just barely dodged, though comically, by bending to the side and supporting himself by his hands. The redhead glared and readied another kick that grazed his shoulder in his downed position. The blonde was thrown back, nearly going ring out, but managed to dig his feet in, comically waving his arms around. When he steadied himself, the redhead was upon him a fist read to sock him in the face.

She was too close for him to counter, so instead, he dodged around her, though his hand did graze her chest.

"Pervert!" Tayuya shouted blushing madly rapidly turning to once more clock the boy. Naruto was surprised at the speed of the attack and once more barely avoided the attack. He did feel though he would have to stop barely dodging Tayuya if the dark aura behind her was anything to go by.

From the sidelines Sasuke sighed from in between Sakura and Karin. "That usurantonkachi," he muttered. "He needs to stop acting like a fool and fight seriously for once," the Uchiha said, palming his face.

Kiba himself would have made a smart remark about not fighting a girl seriously, but had in the past few months learned that the girls in his age bracket were fearsome, especially timid little Hinata. He could remember just how sore Hinata made him when he had made a casual remark about Naruto being a loser.

"Fight seriously Naruto if you don't want to get your ass handed to you by a girl!" Kiba shouted.

"Just because I'm not fighting seriously, doesn't mean I intend to lose." He soon began to trade kicks and punches with the redhead. Naruto was surprised though that Tayuya was keeping pace with him, something only Sasuke seemed to exhibit. He could tell however that Tayuya was just a little bit below Sasuke in terms of endurance then.

When soon Tayuya became a little sluggish in her movements, Naruto found the opening he needed and capitalized on it. He then began to call upon that extra power inside of himself and began to fervently assault Tayuya, pushing her further and further until she was nearly ring out. The redhead had tried her best to force the blonde back, but he had deftly dodged her attacks as if they were coming a mile away at a snail's pace. She jumped back though when Naruto suddenly appeared right a few centimeters away from her and whispered, "You really are cute."

"Winner by ring out is Uzumaki Naruto!" Neji declared.

"About time," Sasuke muttered from his spot.

"I've never seen someone defeat Tayuya so soundly. She's always been able to defeat most people around her age," Karin murmured, completely dazed at seeing her friend lose for the first time.

"Well, Naruto-kun isn't like most people," Hinata pointed out.

"Isn't that the truth?" Sakura replied cheekily.

"Oi," the blunette pouted.

"I'm just kidding Hinata-chan. Calm down," Sakura apologized.

Naruto walked over to the redhead and offered her his hand. "You're not bad at all," he complimented down at her, grinning all the while.

"Same to you," Tayuya grinned back, accepting the offered hand. When she stood to her full height, a good five centimeters between them, she smirked. "Still a shorty though."

"Oi!"

"And a cute one at that," she teased.

Sasuke just palmed his face. "Can someone get those two off the field so we can get to the others?"

* * *

><p>From that day forward, Karin and Tayuya had become fully accepted into the group of Academy students. Though Tayuya seemed to gravitate more toward Naruto, due to their new found rivalry, while Karin was simply fascinated with Sasuke, the two of them did not neglect the other or simply push them off. The group later found out that Karin and Tayuya were living together on their own, and took it upon themselves to help the girls.<p>

That of course meant Naruto suggesting the idea of them moving in with him and Sasuke, dragging the Uchiha into this situation without his permission, not that he really minded. Really, he is more than willing to help others if they just ask him. Honestly, is it that hard to approach him?

"Maybe if you smiled more," Naruto teased.

After a short bout that ended with the blonde conked out on the floor and a smoldering bump, Sasuke had designated a few of the homes close to his own. In a twist of irony, Tayuya ended up next door neighbors to Naruto while Karin found a home next to Sasuke.

The teasing that followed Naruto and Tayuya because of this did not end for quite some time, much to Hinata's chagrin. Of course, she knew that Naruto and Tayuya were more of brother and sister. But for how long would they possibly stay like that? She needed to move if she wanted to be alongside Naruto.

But how?

One day when Sasuke was meditating with Naruto doing the same on the opposite side of the training field, his consciousness began to fade in and out of the world. Soon, his mind was in a completely different place. When he opened his eyes, he found he was surrounded by a night sky with stars and galaxies floating by. What amazed him too was the fact that he stood on a floor of water, yet he was not using chakra to stay afloat.

"Is this Nirvana?" Sasuke wondered aloud. Had he finally become one with the world and found peace?

"Not quite." The Uchiha quickly rounded on the voice, before looking up at the most interesting face he had ever seen. "This is where one communes with their past lives and ancestors."

"Which one are you then?" He soon got half the answer when the man's eyes morphed into a spiral design. "Mangekyō," he murmured.

"My name is Indra," the man introduced. "Not only am I the first of the Uchiha, but I am also your first incarnation." The man smirked at the dazed look on the young boys face. "Not only that, but I am the first son of the Rikudō Sennin, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo."

"So the Sennin is real?" Sasuke asked, completely blown away that the man standing in front of him was his first incarnation and son of one of the most famous ninja ever.

"Yes, father was real." Suddenly, Indra's face hardened, startling the young boy. "But we are not here to talk to the two of you about that."

"Wait, we? Does that mean your brother and his reincarnation are talking about the same thing?" Sasuke looked around, trying to see if there were any other people in the distance.

"Yes we are," the Uchiha ancestor spoke, smiling at the brilliance of his descendant. "You should know him. He's just as bad a flunky as my brother."

The Uchiha stopped, before slowly turning to his first incarnation. "Naruto?" he murmured. At the nod, Sasuke sat down and just rubbed his face. "I had a feeling that whatever was between us was just more than a strong rivalry and friendship," he then looked up into the stars. "We were brothers long ago."

"And best friends for a time," Indra added.

"Tell me what changed."

The first son just sighed, and took a seat in front of the young boy. "Then I must tell you where it all started," Indra intoned, changing the area around them into a battlefield. Sasuke nearly had a stroke but froze when he saw a woman running toward a massive tree. "That is my grandmother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya," he said, pointing to the woman who soon showed that she had horn like protrusions on her head.

"This is the story of the first wielder of chakra and how a world of chaos was wrought from the ashes of another."

* * *

><p>No bonds that go further than best friend territory will be popping up soon. Everyone here is about ten or eleven, so yeah.<p>

Pairings are of course canon, but some will have one more girl.

Also, please review if you liked a chapter or want to give advice. Flames will of course be used to roast marshmallows. You're more than happy to join me when I make s'mores.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Difference

* * *

><p>When Naruto and Sasuke woke after their meditation and meeting with their incarnations, they blearily blinked their eyes at the sky. They were met by the night sky and had realized that a large amount of time had passed since they had begun their meditation.<p>

"How long were we meditating?" Sasuke asked aloud as he and the blonde stood up.

"I think we'll find out when we return to the village, don't you?" Naruto responded. He then motioned with his head toward the direction of the village.

"Hn," the Uchiha grunted, following after the Uzumaki.

After a while the two of them lapsed into a companionable silence.

"So…" Naruto drawled, breaking the silence a few decameters away from the village gate. "You learn anything during your meditation?"

"That depends on what you learned usurantonkachi," Sasuke shot back with a smirk. "Then again, I think I'd be giving you too much credit when it comes to learning."

"Jackass," Naruto replied in a snarky tone. He sighed and looked up at the stars, his arms crossed behind his head. "We've always fought one another, haven't we?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Sasuke shot him a look out of the corner of his eye. "Friends fighting is stupid enough." He then looked up at the sky and thought of his brother. "Brothers fighting and hating each other… that's even more stupid."

"We may be reincarnations of them, but we aren't them… right?" the blonde asked hopefully.

"Nah," Sasuke replied slapping his friend on the shoulder. "You may be a usurantonkachi, but I'd never really hate you."

"That includes not being jealous of me, right?"

"As long as I know you have the book smarts of a rock, I'm never going to be jealous of you," Sasuke teased. "Too much strength and not enough control? I'd rather be an animal. At least it'd be a step up from you." He then eyed his friend. "Who knows, maybe they'll be funnier than you."

"Oi!" Naruto shouted, thwacking his friend on the back of the head.

"Not only that, I don't have to deal with being a midget."

"We're kids you ass!"

"Yet you are the shortest of all the kids in our class," the boy pointed out.

"Screw off," Naruto pouted.

As the two of them once more lapsed into silence once more, Sasuke could feel the anxiety, anxiousness and fear radiating off the boy beside him.

"Do you think we'll be strong enough to stop what is being set in motion by Madara right at this moment?" Naruto asked with a hint of uncertainty. "I mean I know we'll be strong… but will we be able to fight someone that has the Rinnegan, over fifty years or so of combat training and on top of that Kaguya?"

"Well if you put it like that," Sasuke muttered, "then we do seem screwed." He then gave his friend a fiery and determined look. "None of that matters though! We need to right the sins and misgivings of our past selves if we want any chance of saving not only this world, but all of our friends and loved ones!" The boy placed his hand over his heart and continued on passionately, "Even if we fall down, we can't give up! Everything is counting on us to succeed! Failure is not an option."

"Because beneath failure in this, there is nothingness and damnation," Naruto finished for his friend.

Sasuke nodded his head. "Exactly." He smirked at his friend, glad that the blonde finally understood from here on out, the both of them would have to give it their all to succeed and finally bring peace to their broken world. "C'mon," he said, motioning with his head to the village, "Everyone's probably worried about us."

"Race ya there," Naruto challenged, smiling toothily.

"You're on usurantonkachi," Sasuke smirked back.

* * *

><p>The weeks after Naruto and Sasuke's meditation had seen a drastic turn in both in their rivalry with one another. Where it was once a rivalry of good natured ribbing and teasing, it had become something resembling a sibling rivalry. Though at times the two would gain headway ahead of the other, they would soon equalize out and continue neck and neck with one another.<p>

It was most evident in their spars. The amount of legwork the two had shown, along with the precise counters and parries, coupled with the fact that none of their movements were wasted and perfectly calculated, completely stunned their classmates, friends and teachers.

Though when faced with other students, even their friends, it seemed as if the two did not fight them with the same level of ferocity as when they fought each other. The fighting style the two of them used on their fellow students was, in the eyes of a chūnin and up, several steps down compared to the fighting style Naruto and Sasuke employed on one another.

Their friends' parents and the sensei of Team Eight could attest to that when Naruto and Sasuke had taken on nearly all of their friends, and despite the fact they were clearly outnumbered and their friends' collective abilities could match theirs coupled with them facing three, though still green, genin, the two came out on top no worse for wear.

* * *

><p>"Hm?" Shikaku mumbled when his wife, Yoshino, kicked him while he was watching the clouds. "Yes dear?" he drawled.<p>

Yoshino rolled her eyes and pointed over to their child's group, a ticked off look on her face due to having to wake up her lazy husband. The Nara patriarch looked over to the group and sighed when he saw the blonde bundle of energy waving at him.

"Shikaku! Can you help referee the next sparring match?" he shouted across the field to the older man.

Shikaku's brow raised in question at that, wondering exactly why Naruto would want him of all people to referee the next sparring match. There were others just as capable of him to referee a match between young children, but whenever Shikaku refereed, it was usually for a match only between Sasuke and Naruto. After the first match that he had refereed between the two of them, Shikaku understood exactly why the two of them wanted him specifically to referee the match; the two of them would put most chūnin matches to shame! If he had a clear idea of what the two were getting at, which he was eighty-five percent sure of, they were demonstrating their prowess to him not as Shikamaru's father, but as the Jōnin Commander of Konoha's Jōnin forces.

Today he was sure both Naruto and Sasuke would be fighting, but he had a feeling that the two of them would be fighting alongside each other instead of against each other. His hypothesis was proved correct when Naruto and Sasuke hopped to one side of the field, and made the seal of confrontation toward Lee, Neji, TenTen, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Chōji, Sakura, Tayuya and Karin.

His brows raised further, yet his face betrayed no emotion. 'So they're going to take on all of their friends?' He did not know whether the two boys were suicidal, arrogant, off their collective rockers or a combination of the three, but he understood that this would not be one of their everyday matches. When none of the children moved, Sasuke and Naruto called each of them out by name onto the field to face them.

He watched keenly as the other children fielded themselves out onto the sparring field, though some seemed completely irked that they would have to face the two of them. Shikaku knew the moment that Shikamaru fielded himself, he would do his best to get out of said battle.

"Do you two want any special rules?" Shikaku asked the Uzumaki and Uchiha.

"No killing blows," Sasuke stated. He and the Nara patriarch did not seem fazed when a number of the children seemed to relax at the rule, both knowing that the kids would feel out matched facing the two.

"And no quitting! You have to fight until you drop exhausted," Naruto added cheerfully. The others deflated when they heard that. If they wanted to have a snowball's chance in hell of winning, they'd have to take Naruto out first, or else the longer the spar, the worse it would get for them. One could even see Shikamaru despairing over not being allowed to quit.

"Offensive jutsu is limited to C-Rank, while defensive and supplementary are limited to B-Rank. One A-Rank Jutsu, with one use is allowed. So no you can't use that jutsu Naruto," Sasuke chided.

"No fair man! Why can't I use it?!" Naruto whined.

"We want this as fair as possible Naruto, that means having us outnumbered," the Uchiha responded. The others shuddered in fright, wondering what jutsu Naruto was talking about and what it had to do with being outnumbered.

'He couldn't possibly know Kage Bunshin, could he?' Shikaku's mind blazed with thoughts about whether or not the blonde knew one of Konoha's forbidden jutsu and where the boy learned it from. What startled him was the fact that the boys restricted themselves to C-Rank jutsu and down. Did that mean the two of them knew stronger jutsu than was possible for their age? The big question still remained though: Where in the world did they learn these techniques from if so?

"Are you all ready?" Shikaku asked aloud, raising his hand. When the other group nodded, they made the seal of confrontation as well, with Hinata and Neji activating their Byakugan.

"Well then…. Hajime!" he shouted, chopping the air in front of him with his hand and then hopping back.

For a moment, they all stood still, gauging each other. Then Naruto and Sasuke made the first move by jumping back a good few meters, creating a sizable gape between them and the others.

Lee, Kiba, Akamaru, and Neji immediately rushed forward to the duo, intending to close the distance between them. Hinata, Sakura, and Tayuya formed up into a second rank and stood ready to back up the three heaviest hitters. Chōji stood close by to support them, waiting to see what strategy Shikamaru would cook up. Karin, Ino, TenTen and Shino formed a rear guard due to the fact they were physically the weakest in taijutsu.

When the three of the boys were close enough, Sasuke jumped high and Naruto bent down low.

The Uchiha soon pulled out several blunted kunai and threw them the boys before forming a tiger seal with hands, shouting, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" and then exhaling and thus launching a rather good sized fireball at the approaching boys.

At the same time, Naruto pulled out several blunted kunai from his pouch and threw them as well, adding to the volley of projectile weapons. He then made a snake seal, shouting, "Fūton: Daitoppa!" and launched a near wall of rushing air at the three boys.

Somehow, Naruto and Sasuke had synched the chakra they had kneaded into their jutsu so that when they collided, it made a near veritable wall of fire with dangerous projectiles concealed within it. "Katon Renkeijutsu: Gōka Messhitsu (Great Fire Destruction)!" Sasuke and Naruto shouted as one.

When Lee, Neji and Kiba saw the near deadly wall of fire coming at them, all three split up in different directions, Lee going high while Kiba and Neji dodged to the sides. The three girls, seeing the approaching wall of fire, went through hand signs in rapid succession.

"Suiton: Teppōdama!" Hinata shouted, ending in a tiger seal. She then spat out several well sized water bullets that collided with the firewall, slowing it down considerably. With the fire wall weakened, Sakura and Tayuya clasped their hands together in the Tiger seal and both shouted, "Suiton: Suijinheki!" A wall of water was then spat from their mouths that soon stopped the wall of fire coming at them, creating a massive fog that covered them.

Before the three of them could sigh in relief, a wall of earth soon popped up in front of them, accompanied by Chōji shouting, "Doton: Doryūheki!" The sound of kunai thudding against the wall of earth soon followed. The three of them gave each other sheepish looks, momentarily forgetting the kunai that accompanied Naruto and Sasuke's respective jutsu.

"Thanks Chōji!" Hinata shouted back to the Akimichi. The rotund boy just nodded his head in reply.

When the wall lowered, all eight of them were stunned at what was before them when the steam and dust settled.

A few moments ago when Lee, Neji and Kiba had split up, the green spandex wearing boy had miraculously vaulted over the devastating wall of fire… right into the face of Uchiha Sasuke. Before the boy could even react, Sasuke's eyes had morphed into the Sharingan with three tomoe in each of his eyes.

'How!?' Lee shouted in his mind. None of them had even seen Sasuke with a Sharingan up until this point, so it came as a surprise to the green boy when his were caught in a genjutsu cast by the Uchiha. If Lee were conscious during the next few moments, he would been able to remove himself from the ninja wire that pinned him down to the ground with kunai anchoring them. A moment afterward, Sasuke pulled one of several kunai prepped by Naruto and pushed chakra into the tag attached to it before tossing it in Neji's direction.

When Kiba and Akamaru had cleared the fire wall by dodging to their left, they spied Sasuke and Lee in the air, with the latter soon falling to the earth wrapped in ninja wire anchored to kunai. He soon heard someone shout his name, but an explosion followed that proclamation, shutting up whoever was speaking, allowing the attacker to carry out his move.

Before Kiba could even more to attack the still airborne Uchiha, he felt two hands wrap themselves around his ankles and pull him roughly into the ground, burying him up to his neck in the earth. Though Kiba could have used his Tsūga (Passing Fang) to dig himself out of the mess he was in, but he soon found out his arms and feet had wound up bound by… wood?!

'Mokuton?! How the hell is that even possible?!' Kiba snarled in his mind. All of them knew of the famed Mokuton used by probably the strongest ninja ever to exist, Senju Hashirama. But for someone to exhibit it now… there was just no explaination for it.

The entire moments that followed after the flaming wall of death had been followed by Neji's Byakugan, so when he saw Naruto tunneling beneath them toward Kiba, the Hyūga opened his mouth to warn the boy but was then cut off when he saw a kunai with an explosive tag heading his way. Deciding that a tactical retreat was in order, Neji did a springboard backflip, three in quick succession, thus getting himself out of the blast radius. He did have to cover his face when debris from the explosion was flung in his direction.

When finally the dust and steam settled, Sasuke and Naruto were standing with their arms crossed over their chests, a bored look on the former's face and a cheerful smile on the latter's. Behind them, Lee was on the ground under ninja wire tied to kunai, while Kiba was buried up to his neck in dirt and struggling to get out while Akamaru attempted to dig him out.

"Is that all?" the Uchiha drawled.

"C'mon you guys. This isn't fun if you don't try," Naruto said cheerfully.

All nine of the remaining combatants against the duo tensed, wondering if anything they were going to throw at the two would be effective enough to incapacitate them.

"Watch out you guys!" Kiba shouted from behind the duo. "I think one of them, probably Naruto can use Mokuton! Be careful!"

"Tch," Sasuke muttered before flicking tossing a piece of paper that latched onto Kiba's mouth and muted the boy. "I can't believe you didn't knock him out usurantonkachi. You're slacking."

Naruto just replied with a casual shrug, not really sorry for allowing Kiba to reveal his abilities. "Sometimes allowing a foe to get away with information allows you to get an edge in the psychological aspect of warfare," the blonde responded with a smile.

'Mokuton!?' Shikaku and the other adults though frantically. Though that would explain why the young Inuzuka could not escape due to the strength of the wood, it did not account for the fact that Naruto had used a rare Kekkei Genkai only exhibited naturally in one person. What had occurred within the span of time that could explain the young Uzumaki using Mokuton with such efficiency?

At the same time, Shikamaru began to sweat up a storm. Before they had at least a slim chance of besting the two boys. Now? Now they did not even have a snowball's chance in Kaze no Kuni. Those jutsu they had exhibited were enough to match their own higher rank jutsu. The only hope they would have would be to force the two into a taijutsu match and have Tayuya put the blonde under genjutsu and then focus their strength on the Uchiha. Ino, Karin and Shino would provide supporting fire to keep the two off Tayuya and their focus split while he and TenTen would switch out with any of the others to allow them to recuperate. If the two boys stuck together, there was no way they could end this with a win in their favor.

"So how do you want to do this Shikamaru?" Chōji asked his best friend. He had noticed that right after all of them had seen the condition of the battlefield, Shikamaru went into his thinking pose.

"We need to-"

But before Shikamaru could even comment, Sasuke and Naruto made the first move, not even letting their opponents get their bearings and strategy. What the two had opened up with was numerous kunai, several of which had sealing tags tied to them. It was worse because Sasuke had once more jumped high and sent several at the rear rank while Naruto had aimed at the middle rank and the last man of the forward rank. Though TenTen attempted to knock the kunai out of sky with her own arsenal of weapons, the amount power that was put behind all of their throws simply allowed their kunai to tear through all of her counter fire. All of them scattered in different directions, but were unfortunately caught in the explosion of smoke that several of the kunai seals released. No explosions of the fiery nature went off though.

Once more, Neji found himself at an advantage, yet disadvantage, over his allies. Because his Byakugan could pierce through anything not laced with chakra, he could clearly see the on goings of the battle just as Hinata could. He cursed silently when he saw Ino and Karin fall over unconscious. If he were to hazard a guess, several of the kunai with seal tags attached to them had knockout gas, and a strong one at that. Shino seemed to be struggling to stay up, if his body movement were to indicate anything.

And again, the Hyūga had a feeling that he would once more be targeted, as well as Hinata, due to their Byakugan and their ability to see the conditions of the battlefield. He was not disappointed when he saw Sasuke rushing at him and engaging him. But when the Uchiha came close enough for him to engage, instead of going to fight him, the Uchiha vaulted right over him when he went to jab at him, using his extended arm as a spring board. Soon heard the clinking of kunai jingling together and looked up at Sasuke to see him with two kunai in each arm. He then watched as the boy tossed them at him, missing him and then landing back on the ground.

"You missed me," Neji pointed out, returning to his Jūken stance.

"Did I?" Sasuke ask, his fingers sparking.

Neji's eyes widened for a send, before darting down to see the kunai around him light up with electricity. The electricity soon arced to the kunai and shuriken that the boy had on his person before he could even react and then arced toward his hitai-ate, effectively sending the required volts through his body before knocking him unconscious.

'I've have severely underestimated those two.'

Hinata at the same time soon came under assault from Naruto, doing her best to strike at her crush, and failing to do so because each of her strikes were parried with ease. This had lead on for about a minute or two, before Naruto found the opening he needed and capitalized on it. He soon was behind the Hyūga heiress and had his arms under her armpits, locking her in upper body in place. But what he did next would be considered underhanded and have him come under fire of her wrath later.

"Hey Hinata, how about after this, we do this and that at my place?"

"Thi-this and th-that?!" Hinata squeaked out.

"You know," Naruto teased. "This," he kissed her check. "That," the kissed her ear. "Maybe something like this," he commented, trailing one down her neck. "Maybe a little bit more." His hot breath was now on her neck and she could feel his teeth just hovering above her neck.

It was all too much for young girl, what with her overactive imagination when it came to romance. She of course knew what he was talking about, but for him to talk about it, and to do it with her, and later after she had worked up a sweat, with him all sweaty and….!

Naruto smiled softly when he felt the heat radiate from his friend's face at his teasing and then for her to faint dead away in his arms. He knew he would get it when the two of them were alone, him having to pamper her even further to have her forgive him. Of course, he was not against doing this and that when they were much older.

The remaining combatants were spread out, but soon grouped up with each other when they could see one another to increase their chance of survival against the fierce duo. Soon the smoke that had settled onto the field had once more lifted, revealing Sakura, Tayuya and TenTen on one side of the field, Shikamaru and Chōji on the other, and Sasuke and Naruto in-between them with the two Hyūga out of action near the out Ino and Karin with the Aburame heir near them. Shino on the other hand looked to be struggling to stay conscious before he too collapsed, falling over face forward into the grass.

Once more, Shikamaru was sweating bullets. Even though Sakura was able to tap into untold strength, they had once more had their strongest combatants taken out of commission. She was one girl, and she was not as durable compared to the Uzumaki or the Uchiha. There was only so much she could take before she was out, and he was not sure she would be able to take out either of the duo before she was subdued.

He soon locked eyes with Tayuya, someone he found a begrudging rival in strategy and nodded to her. Her eyes darted to the two girls beside her and saw Shikamaru's dart to Chōji. The redhead nodded, having the same idea that an all-out attack was their only course of action left to take. The Nara knew this was it, if they could not make a decisive blow here, then there was no way of winning if they lost another few people.

"Let's go Chōji!" Shikamaru shouted, stretching his shadow in an attempt to snare of the boys if they dodged his way.

"Right!" the Akimichi acknowledged, using his family's Baika no Jutsu to increase his size. "Nikudan Sensha!" he shouted, rolling at the two boys at an impressive speed.

At the same time, Sasuke had made a Tiger hand seal, shouting "Doton: Yomi Numa!" A large amount of mud soon appeared in front of the Uchiha, who soon smirked and prepared another set of hand seals. The Akimichi, though caught in the mud swamp, was still able to maintain some momentum, hopefully enough to extract himself from the trap.

"Let's go Pinky, Buns!" Tayuya shouted as she flew through hand seals and ended in the tiger seal. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

"Let's see you boys handle this!" TenTen shouted, opening up a sealing scroll and using it to launch a volley of kunai and shuriken.

"Shannaro!" Sakura roared, running at the boys, right behind the wall of iron weapons with her right hand cocked back and her left brandishing a kunai.

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted with his hand in the rat seal. He soon let loose a large stream of water that collided, and completely overwhelmed, the fireball. The water stream soon collided with a surprised Tayuya, who had no time to react due to the speed behind the jutsu, taking the brunt of the attack and was thus sent sprawling along the ground.

The blonde wasted no time in flying through hand seals, before slamming them onto the ground and erecting a wall of earth. He soon heard the familiar sound of iron slamming against the wall.

"Go Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, running from the wall and straight at the incoming Akimichi. Sasuke soon tunneled beneath the earth and headed to the next person he was meant to incapacitate. The blonde soon jumped over the Akimichi, and called out, "Futon: Daitoppa!" exhaling a large amount of air that crashed down unto rotund boy, lodging him into the mud and sticking him there. The Uzumaki soon followed up by unleashing a barrage of kunai at the Nara heir from above.

Shikamaru, seeing the barrage from above, abandoned his jutsu and ran to the side, doing his best to avoid the barrage of iron, firing back occasional with his own kunai. What he did not expect though, was for Naruto to send an arc of electricity toward the ground near him. But when he looked down, he saw the numerous kunai around him arc with electricity straight toward him, catching him and sending the necessary volts to render him decommissioned for the remainder of the battle.

'We were way outmatched. So troublesome,' Shikamaru last thought before the world of darkness claimed him.

When Naruto landed right back down, he had a kunai drawn just in time to bat away the one that was directed at by his pink haired friend. Knowing that the cocked fist that was coming toward his face would not be pretty, the blonde boy ducked, using his short stature to his advantage. Sakura's eyes widened in response when she saw that she had overextended herself, something she had recently learned she had begun to do, and knew she was in a jam. What she did not expect was for Naruto to zoom right past her and toward his ruined earth wall. The pinkette growled at his cowardice and soon gave chase.

TenTen, seeing her prey herded toward her by her junior, took out a long staff to engage the boy who was armed with only a kunai. But before she could even gain a grip on her weapon, Sasuke soon popped up right up from beneath her and sent an uppercut to her jaw before sending a kick that threw her a good distance from him.

Sasuke then sprang out of the way when Tayuya launched another fireball at both him and Naruto. He soon flashed through hand seals and ended on the bird seal and shouted "Futon: Fūdan (Air Bullet)!" The amount of air that came crashing toward her was devastating, but when she felt ninja wire wrap around her and pin her to the ground. She then felt several pieces of paper get slapped onto her forehead, upper chest and stomach courtesy of one Uzumaki Naruto. The pressure she felt from those caused her go stock still and brought her out of the fight.

"When I get out of this blondie," Tayuya growled at her friend, "You are going to so get it."

"I'm looking forward to it Tayuya-chan," Naruto grinned foxily before rejoining Sasuke.

Sakura, seeing her last comrade go down, skidded to a stop and reevaluated the current situation at hand. She had seen the efficiency that Naruto and Sasuke had used to defeat all of them, exploiting their weaknesses, uncoordinated teamwork, and insufficient intelligence on the duo. The pinkette now knew from the get-go that they were horribly under matched when it came to the two, despite the fact that all of them had spent long amounts of time training together. It just seemed that Sasuke and Naruto spent even more time training than they had. Soon, she felt a great amount of anger swell within her when she saw the cheery look on Naruto's face and the blank look on Sasuke's.

Naruto frowned and looked at his friend. The Uchiha did not even make a single gesture toward the blonde, but the boy understood. Sasuke soon stepped forward while Naruto jumped over to where Shikaku stood.

"Aren't you going to back him up?" the Nara patriarch asked.

"This is Sasuke's fight from here out. He needs to do this without any interference," Naruto supplied.

Shikaku nodded, understanding the reason why Naruto had left the battle between the two, having been in the same situation with his wife when they were chūnin.

Though Sasuke looked bored, he was quite anguished at the look of anger on his friend's face. Both he and Naruto had not wanted to hide their strength from their friends, but they had to do so because of the lurking shadows of hatred and malice they felt around the village were watching them with keen interest whenever they were in the village. Even if they were out of the village, they could still feel that presence, before losing it by suddenly disappearing by using Shunshin and Naruto's Kage Bunshin.

He sighed, exhaling through his mouth and inhaling from his nose. He then opened his eyes, Sharingan blazing and gaze calm. Sasuke then switched to the Geigeki-kiken (Interceptor Fist) stance of his family. He then motioned with his hand and said, "Come."

The kunai that was once in Sakura's hand soon flew toward him, Sakura barreling right toward him. The kunai passed harmlessly where Sasuke's head was seven seconds ago. Sasuke then batted away the powerful fist that was aimed toward his stomach and pivoted on his foot around Sakura. He then kicked her and sent her sprawling forward, only for her to springboard on her hands and flip in the air so when she would land, she would be facing her crush.

Sasuke then rushed her, aiming a low jab at her stomach, but dodged at the last moment when her fist came crashing down at where he was formerly. He then sent a kick toward her stomach, but had it grabbed in Sakura's death grip. When he saw Sakura's arm muscle twitch, Sasuke climbed up her front with his other foot and spring kicked off her shoulder. He then righted himself in air, landed on the ground in front of Sakura and sent another kick to her abdomen.

The pinkette soon skidded across the ground, before stopping on her back. Attempting to get up, Sakura found her entire body ached from the few hits Sasuke had landed on her. Each one was progressively stronger than the last, and it seemed as if Sasuke was only mildly winded compared to her. She gritted her teeth in rage, wondering why no matter what, she could never seem to catch up to Naruto or Sasuke. Even though the two of them were probably her closest friends, they could not even spare the chance to tell her that they were far stronger than they were? It just did not seem fair.

"Can you carry on?" Sasuke asked from his spot.

"This," Sakura coughed out, "is nothing! I'm still in this." Though she struggled to get up, Sakura soon regained her bearings and stood on her two feet.

Sasuke just nodded and slide back into his stance. He then waited for Sakura to make the first move, but when she did not move and instead swayed on her feet, he sighed and walked over to where she was. "I'm fine, let's do this," Sakura slurred out. She closed her eyes when she felt a tap on her forehead, and looked up to see Sasuke smiling warmly at her.

"You did fine," he said. "Now rest." Sakura nodded blearily before toppling over into Sasuke's arms.

"Shōsha, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke by knockout!" Shikaku declared once the last member of the opposing team was incapacitated. If the two boys could be compared to anyone in history, he was quite sure that none of the past would be able to compare to the level the two boys stood at during their current age. He shuddered to think what exact magnitude the future fights these two would get into would be. If he hazarded a guess, he would say they would be their up in the level of Kage ninja… maybe even beyond that.

The proverbial shit storm that was kicked up from that training match could not be adequately expressed due to the fact it had formed not only a rift that would need to be quickly mended between the two boys and the rest of their friends, but it also called to attention both boys abilities for two second year academy students. One wielded a full matured Sharingan and had displayed the ability to use four of the five main elemental natures. The other displayed the same attributes, but also displayed Mokuton once during the battle.

The following day would hold much for the two boys, revealing hidden truths to both boys neither had even realized, even from their respective incarnations. But the greatest shock would come when both boys heritages would be revealed, slowly lighting the sparks that would lead the world to another war.

One that may cripple the entire world before it could recover and fend itself from a final onslaught to end all war and peace.

* * *

><p>"I think we revealed our hands too early."<p>

"Gee, you think? You really are a usurantonkachi."

"No coming back from this… Damn."

"I don't think we'll be able to keep our skills on the down low, let alone play them off as flukes."

"No route but the truth? You do realize what that would bring us?"

"It is better to know who are enemies and friends, than suspect everyone to be you enemies."

"And if we gain nothing but enemies or manipulators?"

"Then we'll have to abandon Konoha. The fate of the world is more important that nationalism."

"No point in ruling over a kingdom of ash."

"Exactly."

"Let's hope they see it that way."

"They would have to or risk losing us."

"You seem surprisingly mature about this."

"Just because I'm naïve in believing in people does not mean I am naïve enough to be manipulated by them."

"Isn't that a contradiction?"

"Sasuke, we're both walking contradictions."

"Whatever… What about your dream of becoming Hokage though? If you abandon Konoha, you can't become its leader."

"As I said before, I'd rather live in a peaceful world as a hermit than live in a world of ruin as king. If push comes to shove, I must set aside my personal desire to become a leader of a nation and become a leader of a people. One may be strong, but the other can weather anything."

"You've grown my brother."

"Took me long enough, ne?"

Sasuke smirked in reply and motioned his head to the council room doors. "Ready?"

"When am I not?" Naruto joked.

Pushing open the doors, Naruto and Sasuke strode confidently into the room.

Sasuke himself exuded a cool calm, while the subdued greys and purples of his clothing matched his sober and cool attitude. He was armed with a chokuto that was tied up in the purple rope obi around his waist. "Uchiha Sasuke, son of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto, bearer of the spirit of the first son of the Rikudō Sennin, Indra, reporting for the council meeting."

By comparison, Naruto donned an all burnt orange zip shirt with three black rings on each sleeve end bottom and wore black pants to top it off. Donned over his clothes was a red haori with black flames. "Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, bearer of the spirit of the second son of the Rikudō Sennin, Ashura, reporting for the council meeting."

The silence that followed was so thorough, that a bird cawing two kilometers away was heard.

The bedlam that followed was just as defeaning.

* * *

><p>This was much longer than I thought it would be. Then again, that is the beauty of writing. Please leave a review if you wish.<p>

As you could tell, I'm not really all that great at writing fights. Send some advice on how to help me to perfect it. I'll even put a shout-out to you at the end comments.


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